Julie's Cuban

It's Saturday night and we just want to get away from the club crowds. Cold beer, a nice cocktail, in an al fresco setting sounds right. Some Caribbbean-style food to go with the hot, humid night would be perfect. I ferret around a few of the Toronto sites and then I find it -- Julie's Cuban. It's on a narrow stretch of Dovercourt, a cozy eatery amidst a neighborhood that lives its life on the street. Grandmothers clad in the southern-European black uniform gossip on porches, children play in the immaculately kept fenced-in front yards, and a Portuguese festival amuses families in the local park. In fact, this feels a little bit like the Bronx. Julie's Cuban advertises its presence with strings of lights, hoards of flowering potted plants, and a steady stream of low laughter and conversation emanating from its sidewalk patio. It's a testament to the cuisine that all the tables inside the hot little restaurant are full. We only manage to snag an outdoor table because another couple is very, very late for their reservation. (Thank you to them!)

We start with the quintessential Cuban beer Cristal and a mojito. I intend to switch to wine later, but in fact, the mint is so fresh and fragrant that I stick with the cocktail. We take two tacks with the food: Reluctant Chef orders black bean soup to start, followed by Ropa Vieja. The soup is apparently meat-based - we have several pieces of pork in ours - and thick with beans and onions and just tangy enough. The beans don't overwhelm the palate, so I sneak a few more spoonfuls. Ropa Vieja is shredded beef cooked in a tomato sauce; it's served with peppers, plantains and rice and beans. Often I find rice and beans somewhat bland, but this version is saporous. The beef is tender and tangy. I am overly zealous with a variety of tapas. Avocado and mango salad is the thing to order this time of year: large juicy chunks of both fruits served with leafy greens, red peppers and cucumber. A lively ceviche follows, as well as shrimp richly cooked in butter and garlic. Two standout tapas are Frituras de Mais -- deep fried peppery corn fritters (crispy outside, soft inside) with sour cream, and Tostones Rellenos -- plantains stuffed with picadillo, a ground beef mixture sauteed with a sweet-spicy tomato sauce. I also order some chorizo cooked in red wine, which is pleasantly piquant but there just isn't enough room in my overstuffed belly so I opt to take it home. As we linger over our drinks, we observe many patrons leaving with little styrofoam containers. Julie, we'll be back!